Episode 309: Best Episode Ever?

[This episode is unedited, so be prepared for some naughty language.]

This week has some stunning news items, causing an overstuffed, long episode, so big even Jordan’s wife chimes in, and Jonah and Paul argue hotly over the last item. The Gaming Flashback for this episode is Super Star Wars.

This week’s huge news:

  • EA gets exclusive license to publish Star Wars games, powered by Frostbite 3 engine
  • Uplay causing problems with Steam version of Heroes VI expansion Shades of Darkness
  • The Sims 4 officially announced by Electronic Arts
  • Michael Biehn hints at Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon sequel
  • Doritos Crash Course 2 coming May 9, still free
  • Spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness hitting crowdfunding on May 6
  • Gearbox dismisses Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit as “beyond meritless”

Also some listener feedback, plus this week’s Question: “What was your Golden Era of videogaming?”

0 thoughts on “Episode 309: Best Episode Ever?”

  1. Had to re-write the message … lesson learned: don’t rush into rebooting your computer.
    I also noticed that I skipped an episode 🙁 …

    @EA gets exclusive license to publish Star Wars games, powered by Frostbite 3 engine
    Yay, quick profits, here we go! Sure, it’s easier to license an IP rather then keep a studio. There is however the issue of quality: would people like “Call of X-Wings”?
    Jonah, the name of the studio was Westwood. They did all C&C games up to and including Renegade. Not sure how many of the devs remained with EA though, after the studio was aquired.

    @The Sims 4 officially announced by Electronic Arts
    The time of CD key for EA has passed :P. This time they’ll be putting DRM first, but drop the MMO-like requirements. I expect an on-line DRM, but with much less bandwidth requirements. Think of Assasin’s Creed as opposed to Diablo III.

    Don’t you dare edit the “fucking seasons”!

    @Michael Biehn hints at Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon sequel
    Could be a lot of wishful thinking, if you ask me.

    @Spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness hitting crowdfunding on May 6
    Is there a success story that involves an old IP that the publishers forgot about and crowd funding? So far everything I heard of are just projects in development, so I’m asking: was something similar to this released?

    @Gearbox dismisses Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit as “beyond meritless”
    The lawsuit is meritless. Unless there’s a written document, signed by all parts involved, that the game will not contain human opponents, it won’t stick.
    Yes, what they did is bad. Yes, we don’t learn the lesson. We never do. Yes, we’ll most likely still pre-order games.

    @QOTW:
    Hard to name a particular generation. I liked the ’90s in Romania, with their NES clones and pirated cartridges. The whole experience was new, and there were so many games to play!
    I also liked the 2001-2005 period. It’s then when I turned to the PC.

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This week’s news items include:

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Nintendo Wants More Wii and DS SalesNintendo Wants More Wii and DS Sales

At E3 Reggie Fils-Aime let the world know he wasn’t satisfied with the sales progress of the Wii or DS in 2007 and hopes Nintendo can do better this year. Perhaps Nintendo is playing the humble card? No doubt they bragged about their 10 million sales of the Wii and 20 million sales of the DS but quickly followed it by saying they’re not satisfied.

Or, is this a threat?

Nintendo has built some steep competition while both Sony and Microsoft scoff at their product and tell everyone its a novelty and it doesn’t really “count” in this next-generation console battle. It doesn’t count… really?

Perhaps Microsoft and Sony are right; maybe every Wii owner that wanted a PlayStation 3 and/or an Xbox 360 purchased their console too. There may be some truth to that as hardcore gamers may purchase a Wii for many reasons:

  • They want every console so they have the widest array of game purchases
  • They’re hardcore nature forces them to spend money on all products
  • They want to get their kids in on gaming early, to grow them up in their image
  • Mob mentality, if everyone has a Wii you must as well!
  • The technology is cool and you want to be there for its inception

It seems they don’t feel a threat because Wii is a non-gamer console and thus attracts a different crowd… yet they’re both mimicking some of the motion sensing in their own controllers and playing nice towards “casual games” and non-gamers of late. Maybe their not threatened, but impressed?

Fils-Aime isn’t impressed with their sales figures, perhaps because he expected a higher degree of Wii sales by now, but the fact that people cannot purchase them two years into production has hurt sales figures. Although 10 million units sold is an impressive figure, knowing you had such higher potential if the product was actually on the shelves has to hurt a bit of your pride.

The DS sales were impressive considering the product has been in the market for awhile and is easier to find (minus the holiday rush). We’re not sure why he’s not satisfied with the figures, but inspiring a higher degree of DS sales will require some work. Perhaps this is why they’ve gone with the GTA Chinatown approach; using the GTA name to grow their DS sales figures?

It will be interesting to see how Wii does through the next few quarters and if sales slow down now that we’re a few years into the product. What was the last home console Nintendo owned to get this high of a demand?

Perhaps none.

Episode 722: Off the RailsEpisode 722: Off the Rails

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Podcast notes:

  • Sony backs down on demand that Helldivers 2 players log into a PSN account
  • Microsoft announces Xbox Games Showcase and mystery Direct for June 2024
  • EU rules iPadOS must comply with Digital Markets Act, opening door for Fortnite
  • Hades 2’s surprise early access release already has more stuff in it than the first game
  • Square Enix announces it’s tanked $140 million in losses due to “content abandonment”

Feel free to leave feedback.